The present invention relates to a leaf picking apparatus for picking off tobacco leaves from reaped and dried tobacco plants.
In general, tobacco plants cultivated in tobacco fields are reaped from their stalks for harvesting, and the reaped plants are dried entire to a predetermined degree. After the drying, the plants are reduced to stalks and leaves. Conventionally, this reduction or leaf picking work is accomplished manually, requiring much time and labor. This greatly impedes an improvement of the efficiency of production of tobacco leaves.
Accordingly, there is a demand for leaf picking apparatuses which can mechanically perform the leaf picking work to save labor. Some of these apparatuses are already on the market. They include a picking apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Disclosure No. 51-1355. This conventional apparatus comprises a fixed cutting member in the form of a hollow, tapered tube with a plurality of axially extending slits arranged circumferentially at predetermined intervals on its outer peripheral surface, and a plurality of rotating cutting blade rotating in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the fixed cutting tube. In this picking apparatus, a tobacco plant, rotating about the axis of its stalk, is gradually inserted into the fixed cutting tube from the front end side thereof, with the stalk top forward. When the stem of a tobacco leaf enters one of the slits of the fixed cutting tube, it is cut by the rotating blade.
In the leaf picking apparatus described above, however, it is hard for the stems of tobacco leaves to securely enter the slits of the fixed tube. Therefore, many of the leaves may run against the fixed cutting tube and rotating blade without being cut thereby from their stems. Thus, the leaf picking efficiency of the apparatus is very low. Moreover, the uncut leaves hit by the rotating blade are seriously damaged, constituting a substantial hindrance to the performance in the next process.
Even though the stems of tobacco leaves can manage to enter the slits of the fixed cutting tube, in the aforesaid prior art apparatus, the leaves are cut at different points by the fixed cutting tube and rotating blade, due to varied postures of the leaves. Thus, the leaves are cut at various regions, some at the stems and others at the blades. In conclusion, they cannot be obtained entire.